Ben Stokes hit a gutsy unbeaten 42 as England reached the T20 World Cup semi-finals on Saturday with a tense four-wicket win over Sri Lanka —and ended Australia’s title defence. England needed to win to make the last four from Group one alongside already qualified New Zealand and they achieved the feat in a nail-biting finish with two balls to spare at the Sydney Cricket Ground. 

If they had lost, hosts Australia would have gone through. Sri Lanka looked on track for a big total when they reached 80-2 after 10 overs, but the aggressive Pathum Nissanka was out for 67 and the Asian champions crumbled to 141-8, with Mark Wood taking 3-26.